Ask Chef Phyllis:
Fall is coming, and I love pears. Truth be told, I know very little about this fruit. Sometimes I have a pear and think it’s the best thing I ever ate. Sometimes they’re grainy and lack flavor. I’ve had pears poached in wine and they were so good, but I think they were a lot of work. I’m looking for easier ways to use them fresh, but I’d like to know some recipes for poached pears too. I want to know as much as I can about my favorite fruit. Any suggestions?
—Emilee Waverly from Des Moines, Iowa
Pears are elegant! Perfectly ripe, thin skinned, eaten out of hand, raw or cooked—juicy pears make great desserts.
Like you, fall makes me think of pears. When I was young, my sisters and I would pick up the tiny Seckel pears that fell into our yard from our neighbors’ tree. They didn’t prize their tree or its fruit, but I loved the little gems. I suppose you either are or are not a pear person.
Pears that look good but taste grainy, lack flavor, and turn brown inside have been kept for too long at too low a temperature. They’re best when picked green or purchased hard and firm, then ripened at 70°F until soft. If you acquire a large amount of pears and wish to store them properly, wrap the firm fruit in paper and put them in the slotted box they came in. Store in a cool place such as a root cellar or unheated basement—never in the garage.
Still, the best advice I can give you about pears is to follow the season for ultimate pleasure. Pear season starts with the arrival of sweet, juicy Bartletts in late summer. Bartlett and Anjou, both red and green, are the varieties that most people know and eat most. Other common types seen in markets include tall, russet-brown Bosc pears and Comice pears, which look a lot like a small Bartlett. Less common varieties include Asian pears, French butter pears (sometimes called Kiefers), and Seckel pears. For truly fantastic pears, visit your local farmers’ market in September. The farmer will no doubt fill your head with even more information about this fruit.
Pears are just as versatile as apples in most recipes, but perfectly ripe, sweet pears make a wonderful pairing with wine and cheese—better than apples, in my opinion. My French-Italian mom always said, “Pears keep good company with cheese.” So that’s where I got that idea!
Now that it’s September, pear season has arrived. So here are a few sweet ideas to get the most out of the season. You’ll find three recipes that call for raw pears and two more that call for poached. I’ve also included suggestions for wonderful cheese and pear combinations.
Pears with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Pears
Splash of orange juice
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey, or to taste
Sliced almonds
Instructions
- Gently wash pears. Slice them and sprinkle with orange juice.
- Melt bittersweet chocolate in a small pot over low heat.
- Add heavy whipping cream and honey.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over pears and top with sliced almonds. Serve immediately.
Marsala Pears
Ingredients
Pears
Sweet Marsala wine
Walnuts, halved
Blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Cut pears in wedges or slices. Soak in sweet Marsala wine for 30 minutes.
- Top with walnut halves and crumbled blue cheese.
Pear and Cheese Pairings
The following pairings are a match made in heaven and make for a European-style finale to any meal.
- Bosc pears, young Brie, and a few figs or dates
- Comice pears, pungent Gorgonzola, and oven-roasted red grapes
- Anjou pears, pepperjack cheese, and spiced toasted walnuts
- Bartlett pears, sliced pecorino Romano, drizzle of wild honey, and cracked black pepper
Poached Pears in Sauternes and Ginger
Ingredients
6 pears, peeled
1 bottle sweet Sauterne wine
Fresh ginger, sliced
Wild honey
Crystallized ginger (optional)
Instructions
- Poach pears in Sauterne wine with a few slices of fresh ginger.
- Cook for only half an hour over medium heat. Turn off heat, leaving the pears in the wine.
- Let pears cool to room temperature. To serve cold (preferred), refrigerate pears in their liquid.
- Place each whole pear into a small bowl. Drizzle with wild honey. If desired, shave a little crystallized ginger on top.
Poached Pears in Dry Red Wine
This is the famous French dessert for spiced pears, and it makes a truly elegant finale to any meal. Well worth the effort.
Ingredients
1 bottle Burgundy or other dry red wine
6 pears, peeled
6 oranges
20 whole cloves
4 whole cinnamon sticks
½ cup coconut sugar
Crème fraîche or lightly whipped heavy cream
Toasted almonds
Mint leaf for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Pour wine into saucepan. Add pears. Peel the oranges, then stick whole cloves into the peels and add them to the wine. Squeeze the juice of the oranges into the wine. Add cinnamon sticks and coconut sugar.
- Cook gently on low heat for about 1 hour. Turn off heat, leaving pears in the liquid until the desired shade of pink is reached. Refrigerate the poached pears in the wine to deepen the color and enhance the flavor.
- Gently remove pears from wine, reserving about 1 cup of liquid. In a small pot, boil the liquid until reduced by half.
- Serve each pear in a small bowl, with 1–2 tablespoons of the reduced poaching liquid spooned on top.
- Top with crème fraîche or lightly whipped cream, a sprinkling of toasted almonds, and a mint leaf if desired.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
To choose your organically grown and fresh ingredients wisely, use the following criteria:
- chemical- and hormone-free meat
- wild-caught fish
- pasture-raised, organic eggs
- whole, unrefined grains
- virgin, unrefined, first-press organic oils
- whole-food, unrefined sweeteners
- pure, clean, spring water
- sea salt
- raw and/or cultured milk and cream products
Photo of Poached Pears in Red Wine by Phyllis Quinn
Phyllis Quinn is a chef, food writer, and founder of Udderly Cultured, a class that teaches how to make homemade fresh mozzarella, butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, and other cultured products. Private lessons are available. For a reservation, call Phyllis at 970-221-5556 or email her at phyllisquinn2@gmail.com. Rediscover nearly lost cooking methods and get one-of-a-kind recipes in her books The Slow Cook Gourmet and Udderly Cultured: The Art of Milk Fermentation.
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These pear recipes look wonderful, Phyllis!